Travelling Advice

Ya Never Know

I need some advice.

I have an opportunity to travel with DH to San Francisco in January. He's going there for 10 days for training for his work, and it's a good opportunity for me to go with him because his work pays for the hotel, transport to and from airport etc...

I've thought about going and leaving DD with either my parents or my IL's, but frankly, I'm not comfortable leaving DD that long at this age. I'm not even really comfortable leaving her for a weekend even. :

So... That leaves me taking her with us.

There is a 3hour time difference between where I am and SF. So... I guess my first question would be, how do you adjust an 11 month old to that kind of time change?

The flight to SF from where I am is about 5.5 hours with a one hour layover in Toronto, and the flight back to Canada is a few hours longer with another 1hour layover. DD would have to sit in my lap the whole time. She's almost walking, so by then she probably will be... How the heck do I entertain her that long? :

I know there are lots of ladies on here that have travelled with their LO's, I would love to hear from you!

I really think everything would probably be okay once we got there, but I am terrified of the travelling.

The other thing is that DH will only really be with me at night and on the weekend so I'd be alone all day touring with DD, but that scares me a lot less than the actual travel and the time change stuff.

Should I just stay home? Would this just be too hard? I barely ever travel, let alone travel with a baby... DH would be super disappointed if I didn't go, and he wants DD to come too, I'm just really scared :

pinkshades05

I think you'd have fun, especially with your DD! San Francisco is a great place to visit with a lot of things to do and places to visit. But do bring warm jackets because it is very windy and cold!

I'm also looking forward to travel advice because we have two plane trips coming up that I am nervous about!

noryang

The rule is that you should figure one day of jet lag for every hour difference in time. That is for an adult. Babies can be trickier. The best thing you can do is try and get LO on a normal schedule as soon as possible. And get your LO outside in the sunshine as much as possible to reset the internal clock.

As far as entertaining LO on a plane at the age - I think it is pretty rough. If you have an iPad I would load up on age appropriate aps, TV episodes like Sesame Street and let her stretch her legs before and after the refreshment charts go through the aisles. Pack a few board books too - maybe some new ones?

Think about lots of snacks like Goldfish crackers or things that take effort and attention to eat and that might be new and exciting for her.

But you should definitley go. I really believe that when we incorporate our children into our adult lives and (within reason) teach them to be flexible and go with the flow in these situations that it is a skill they learn and a gift for later in life.

lvrunningirlie

I took my LO from Atlanta area to Vegas to visit family when he was 4 months old. He was adjusted to the time change after the first day. What we did was let him nap on the plane, fed him as usual. Then when we got to Vegas I put him down in his normal bedtime routine, but based on the local time. So he went to bed around 7:30 vegas time. He had no problem the next take.

 My guy was an awersome flyer. We either fed him or gave him a passi to suck on during take off and landing (he was actually asleep for all take off's and landing which made it amazing). And he is more than content looking at people and getting their attention so when he was awake I let him "talk" to the people across the isle and when he got fidgety we went and stood at the back of the plane and talked to people there. We're flying west again in December and now that he's older I anticipate entertaining him to be a little more difficult cuz he wants to be on the ground moving all the time.

Jen0204

Can you go for less then 10 days?  I agree with Nory that it's good to incorporate them into our lives as much as possible, but I wouldn't want to spend that long in a city if my H was busy all day.  If possible I would rather go for 4-5 days and plan it around the weekend so that you have the weekend with H and then just a couple of days by yourself.  Of course then it becomes a question of if it's worth it to get your LO to adjust to the time difference twice for such a short time.  Personally I would make a long weekend out of it and leave your LO with family (I agree with you and would definitely not be able to leave them for 10 days, though).  Then you get some alone time with H, some time to explore the city on your own, and you don't have to worry about adjusting your LO to the time change.  If it was a vacation where your H would be with you then I would 100% bring her, but I wouldn't even want to spend that much time in a city by myself (8 days, right?), much less with a baby who I had to make sure had a time and place to nap properly.